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Monday, December 21, 2015

I can't believe today is the 21st. Can you? It creeps up every year, faster than the last.

My last project before the holidays is a set of holiday place cards. I made these to decorate the kids' table for Christmas dinner.

I used the Be Jolly snowman from Avery Elle, its matching die, and the smaller rectangle from the Wonky Stitches die set. I chose the snoman not only because he is adorable, but.... minimal coloring! haha. If you are pressed for time right before Christmas, a snowman is a great image to work with because you leave most of him white!

For the place cards: I first cut all of the rectangles I would need. Then, I stamped the snowman image (it comes with the snowdrifts and everything, so one stamping per place card made quick work of the entire lot!)

Then, I placed the open die over the snowman, and only ran it through the die-cutter to where the centre line would be. Then, when folded, the top of the snowman could pop up. So simple, but very fun!

To stamp all of the names, I used Elle's Alphas. As long as you draw a straight pencil line, they are easy to line up. I like that they are small enough to use for this sort of project, but not too tiny that I am losing my mind.

I hope you like them!

And, from my family to yours, have a very merry Christmas! (photo by the amazing Tanya Zaleski.)

Friday, December 18, 2015

Advent Calendar Extravaganza is -the- festive event of the season! This ‘hop with a twist’ was dreamed up by Taheerah Atchia and features surprise destinations each day! Joining in the fun with Taheerah are over 60 special guests - each serving up some fantastic Christmas inspiration! Just like an Advent Calendar, you’ll never know where you’re going to be visiting next until you ‘open the door’!

And that’s not all! With 25 *amazing* sponsors taking part as well, your crafty wish list is bound to get a boost with a chance to win a prize EVERY SINGLE DAY!!

Join in the fun every day at taheerah-atchia.com to see what special surprises wait behind the door!

For day 18 of this advent hop, I created a set of tags:

Using my brand new MISTI tool made it so easy to stamp all 6 tags quickly, and have them look exactly the same. That was the quick part. It took a little longer to color everything in, but that's what I love. I love using stamps and inks and coloring, and sometimes that is so much more relaxing to me than lugging out the die-cutter (oh, it stays out at your house? pffft. I have to put everything away before every mealtime. ha.)

I hope you like my simple (but time-consuming, haha) tags! Since this is Taheerah's party, she's arranged for prizes every day! Today's sponsor is Lawn Fawn - woot! Leave a comment on this blog post to be entered, and then pop back over to Taheerah's blogand leave a comment on her blog post today to double your chances. You have until December 31st, 7AM EST to leave your comments.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

I am so pleased to announce that I'll be joining the Avery Elle design team! I have long since admired their adorable designs, and I am so excited that I'll be using them regularly on the blog now!

That sunburst die is my absolute fave. I want to use it on every card! It is so perfect for highlighting cute images, like Heather's little fairy. Pixie Dust is an adorable fairy-themed set, with 3 fairies and lots of accessories, like a little tooth wand! I can't even.

I cut a circle into the Burst die, and layed clouds and a subtle patterned paper behind to create a sky. Then, using 2 sizes of circle dies (also included in the Burst die set,) I created a circle frame, which I colored with copic markers to match the fairy's dress. I love coloring die-cuts with copics, it looks so much less flat than just cutting a colored cardstock.

I stamped the sentiment onto a banner die-cut, and layered everything together.

I hope you like it! Check out the formal announcement on the AE blog this morning - click!

I'm guesting with Waffleflower today! I love a great aqua and red color combo for Christmas, don't you?

I used a lot of the pieces from the Stocking Stamp Set to create a fun collage card with kind of a patterned paper feel. I used sticky note paper, and die-cut the images that I would want to use. No stamping yet, just the matching die-cuts to the images I would be using. I then placed them randomly around the card front. Then, I used a sponge and some blue ink to add color to the background. While the masks were still in place, I splattered brown ink over the entire panel. I love peeling back the sticky paper to reveal crisp white, un-inked card stock!

The fun part comes next. I took all of the images and stamped them into the appropriate spaces. I colored all of the images in red, beige or white, even the little Christmas tree. Sticking to a tight color scheme helps to give a polished and stylized look to the card. To finish off the images, I added some highlights with a white gel pen. It adds a little pop!

The sentiment was heat-embossed onto a piece of kraft cardstock, and I added a tiny clothespin and red bow to the top.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Hey there! Earlier this month, I hosted this year's annual cookie exchange party. I think this is year 4? 5? that we've been doing it, and every year we jump homes. I moved to a new home this year, so naturally I wanted to show it off!

Every year, I try to decorate our spread a little with themed cookie labels. This year, I decided to use Lawn Fawn's Bannerific and Baaah Humbug stamp sets to create all of my decor.

And, because it's a cookie party, the queen of decorated cookies (in my local area, haha!) Marlyn (of Montreal Confections,) whipped up a few matching cookies that I could use as party of the decor. They were the cutest!

I love Marlyn's cookies, and I love watching her make them! It's like magic, and she makes it look so easy. (click HERE for the how-to video)

We tried to make our cookies look as pretty as Marlyn's. The salted pistachio cookies on the left were my fave. Honestly, I have snuck a few out of the freezer to enjoy with my afternoon coffee.

If you know the Lawn Fawn stamp sets, you know there is no chocolate chip cookie this size anywhere to be found. I improvized by stamping the empty gumball from Sweet Smiles and adding the little chocolate chips from Milk & Cookies. Voila!

I didn't get around to photographing all of the cookies (or at least, not all of them in focus, haha!) I had some competition when it came to getting the table photographed:

hee.

After the party, I offered a little handmade parting gift:

Each girl got to take home a set of simple tags to use when handing out cookie gifts.

Fleece navidad! I hope you liked this look into this year's cookie exchange party. If you have a cup of coffee in hand and don't want to get up just yet, you might like to check out our other cookie exchange parties:

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

I'm still a beginner illustrator, so I feel like I should be open to requests. You know? Like, when you're just starting to build your portfolio or resumé for any job, you'll gleefully accept any account.

Soooo, when Maia (5 years old) asked me to draw her a baby Jesus that she could color, I made it happen. Because, the budding portfolio. And also, baby Jesus.

As an aside, we'd just come back from church, she was singing Christmas carols, looking through my stamps and was SHOCKED to realize that Jesus was notably missing from my stash o' Christmas stamps. I mean, we teach her that Jesus is the reason for the season, but then all I have is one angel in a sweeping landscape of Santas and elves. (They are super cute, though.)

So, later that evening, I sat down to watch Mary Poppins and sketch a swaddled baby Jesus. Monday morning, I was ready to make an illustrated version. Maia promptly colored herself 5 versions of baby Jesus, to be handed out to teacher and friends at school. I colored one to show off, and made the quickest card:

Because Jesus' gift of life is free, I'm offering this sweet baby Jesus image as a free digi stamp. The card you see above is a standard 4.25 x 5.5 inch card, so that will give you an idea of how large the image is (if you do nothing to shrink it down.) When you click on the link, it will automatically download the zip file to your computer or ask you to save it. You'll get both a png and jpg format.

I really hope you enjoy printing and coloring the babe! If you'd like to see more of my illustrations, I have a Christmas collection available in my Etsy shop - click! And I am working to put out a Valentine collection, sometime in the early new year. Thank you for all of your encouragement and support as I hack my way into the world of illustrators.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Hi there! It's the second day of Lawn Fawn's December inspiration week, and we're showing off the brand-spanking-new set, You Turn Me On.

You may be wondering why I stamped a custom sentiment, instead of the one included in the set. There's a story.

I was stamping lightbulbs while the kids were around (which means Maia was stamping lightbulbs.) Then, she picks up the set, turns to me and asks what the sentiment says. Thomas comes running up (he's a bit of a busybody) and tells her: it says you turn me on.

For the next minute, the children are talking about how much they like saying "you turn me on" and I am turning all shades of red. I snatched up the stamp set and announced that I would make a special sentiment for all of us. hahahaha.

Call me a prude, but something about a 5 year old saying: "you turn me on" is a bit out of my comfort zone. Even if they are paired with adorable lightbulbs.

I made my custom sentiment with Milo's ABCs, and heat-embossed it onto a strip of black cardstock. Behind the lightbulbs, I did a little sponged hot-pink background and flicked on some white paint before adhering the lightbulbs.

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the Lawn Fawn blog today - click!

Monday, December 7, 2015

We interrupt your holiday baking, gift-wrapping, michael-bublé-christmas-crooning to bring you a mini Lawn Fawn Valentine's inspiration week. Lawn Fawn is doing a mini new release, with all of the products for sale at the end of the week.

Today, we're showing off the adorable Pizza My Heart set. As in, you've got a pizza my heart. As in, you've got a piece of my heart. (honestly, I had to go over and over this with my kids. It took a while to see the lightbulb flash over their heads.)

I gave the Party Animal bear a little chef's hat and scarf, and an outstretched arm to hold up the heart-shaped pizza. I love that the pizza comes with no toppings, and you get to add them in! So cute!

My kids were all wrinkling their noses when I stamped the mushrooms. Honestly, there is not a vegetable these kids are excited about these days.

To frame out the scene, I had to add gingham! Nothing says pizza from an authentic italian pizzeria like a red-scarf-wearing bear and red-and-white gingham. Except maybe a little nod to the motherland with that green stripe. All the colors of Italy represent!

Visit the Lawn Fawn blog to see what the rest of the design team has cooked up - click!